Personal Account Of A D-Day Soldier In Richard Levine's War
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Richard Levine
1st infantry Division
“You will never understand…”
Richard Levine is a D-day veteran of Omaha Beach. Once a sergeant and a gunner, Levine now lives in Sussex, England with his wife and two sons. As we sit in a cozy café near his house sipping English breakfast tea, Levine tells me of his bravery and experience during the D-day invasion.
By John Smith
John Smith: What year did you go into service?
Richard Levine: June of 1943.
John Smith: Were you from this area?
Richard Levine: No. I’m actually from Jersey City, but I went for my basic training in Camp Wheeler, Georgia. I trained for a few weeks in Camp Shanks. Then I went overseas and joined a division in Africa. We fought a bit and then I was posted to England. When January arrived we left…show more content… What was it like?
Richard Levine: The journey was rough and I had a bout of motion sickness. I always felt like puking.
The day before we arrived, the Germans had placed a whole infantry division there for maneuvers. We arrived right at their doorstep. We lost some men but I shot down a couple.
I was setting up the gun and me and my fellow soldiers looked. We’re looking, looking out for each other. We were in a wooded area and we saw the Germans moving around. My sergeant tells me, “Levine, get to the gun”.
Without delay I got on the gun and fired about fifteen rounds and yelled to the Germans, “Cease fire! Cease fire!” The Germans gave up and we walked into this house they seemed to have inhabited. My comrades and I dug a hole and we stayed there the whole night. We laughed and we cried. We could not sleep. War memories haunted us and we mourned for the friends that we had lost. Those days were the days of sleepless nights and haunting memories. Your only help was your comrades, friends who could understand the horrors and lived with your monsters as they lived with